


The Cul-de-Sac Question

by boogersugar



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Drama, Humor, M/M, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-05-14 00:24:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19262209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boogersugar/pseuds/boogersugar
Summary: Sick of constantly moving around, Donghyuck hopes this new neighborhood is where he and his family finally choose to settle down. But when one of his neighbors is attacked in his own home, cracks begin to appear in the neighborhood's seemingly picture perfect facade and it's up to Donghyuck to team up with resident boy next door Mark to get to the bottom of this attempted murder mystery.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hehe this has been in the making for a WHILE when i say this fic kicked my butt I MEAN IT but it will kick my butt no longer...well ok thats debatable but first chapter! woo! 
> 
> if u like this chapter pls pls pls tell me because validation makes me really happy! and no validation makes for a real sad sugar :(
> 
> !this fic will feature mpreg, infidelity, pseudo incest, non graphic sex and violence! reader discretion is advised!

Donghyuck liked to think of himself as a fairly observant person.

He found himself observing quite a bit as he watched the movers move their belongings from the moving truck parked in their brand new driveway and into their brand new house, the omega himself perched on his brand new bean bag chair that his father insisted he keep next to him on the drive there. He made a mental note to thank the alpha for the tip. Feeling himself sink so deep into the bag of beans he thought he’d never get out was an infinitely better situation than bruising his butt sitting on the hardwood flooring.

He watched one of the alphas bend over to pick up one of the boxes and his jeans slip just a bit to reveal a faded, albeit still prominent, tramp stamp just slightly off center and Donghyuck wondered what the almost certainly not sober chain of events leading up to that decision were. If he had cared just a smidge more he probably would have harassed the man into giving up the story.

Donghyuck watched tramp stamp man disappear into the kitchen with the box (that had been labelled ‘OFFICE SUPPLIES’ uh, dude, come back?) and sighed, flopping backwards and sinking deeper into the beanbag chair, staring holes into the popcorn ceiling, wondering what his parents were doing upstairs.

‘Breaking their bed in probably.’ The gross little voice in the back of his head suggested and his face scrunched up as he tried not to think too hard about that.

Donghyuck admittedly didn’t know much about his parents. He knew they had met in University through mutual friends and had had him in their early 20’s and wed shortly after, their wedding pictures boasting a baby Hyuck as the world’s cutest baby bridesmaid being pushed down the aisle in a vintage stroller, and that they were employed by the government but...that was kind of it. Donghyuck had long since given up trying to find out exactly what it was they did for a living.

Besides, the title of ‘Secret Agent’ sounded way cooler than what it was they probably actually did. They would leave for weeks on end and leave Donghyuck with one of his uncles that wasn’t really his uncle and come back and pretend like nothing was wrong when their son asked them about the new injuries they were sporting. Although the lack of information was frustrating, he did enjoy vandalizing their casts immensely.

He tried thinking about what their lives were like before they had had him, an admittedly weird concept, and used all the old photos his uncles supplied him with to create an intricate backstory of how his parents met in a cooking class where fate paired his michelin chef of a mom up with his kitchen disaster of a dad and decided to spend their lives together, fighting crime (unconfirmed) and making their only sons life miserable by constantly moving around (confirmed).

Donghyuck absentmindedly wondered if he this would be where they stayed for good. He was almost finished high school anyways, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to start and finish a grade in the same place! Plus, the street they had moved in on was so perfect it had the omega constantly peeking out the window to make sure the view he had taken in on the way hadn’t been some hallucination brought on by spending too long in the car. He idly wondered what their deal was, if some sort of drug ring or cult shit was happening behind the scenes because this was just _too_ perfect.

Well, as long as none of that shit affected him in anyway, his neighbours could keep on druggin’ and cultin’.

He turned to stare out of the window once more, feeling like he was staring at a real estate ad as he watched a kid bike down the street, zooming past a family piling out of their minivan and disappearing inside their big and beautiful house and finally settling his eyes on the ice cream truck that had pulled up to the curb, already drawing a crowd of several teenagers all clamouring for the attention of the poor, sole worker inside.

Donghyuck wasn’t usually one to find pleasure in the suffering of others and almost considered staying his ass inside but the promise of a cheap sweet treat was too much to ignore and he found himself slowly getting up and creeping down the front hall and out through the door, hoping he could be back before his parents noticed he was gone.

He shoved his hand in the pocket of his shorts and squeezed the crumbled bills he had snatched from his piggy bank after his parents had forced him to break it and throw the ceramic shards away, not wanting to lug something so heavy around when it was so easily disposable. Sure Donghyuck had to live with the guilt of slaughtering his piggy friend so cruelly but hey, if the blood money paid for ice cream then so be it.

The crowd had begun to thin out by the time Donghyuck made his way over to the truck, deciding to observe the three omegas that remained.

The tallest one was clearly trying to gain the attention of the alpha inside the truck who had given up on trying to wipe down the counter and instead laid face down on it with the rag draped over his face and arms splayed across the edge.

“I think this is a health violation.” The shortest omega complained and flicked the alpha’s palm, making him twitch and groan. “Jeno, you’re terrible at this job.”

“Yeah it’d be a real shame if someone snitched on your ass to corporate…” The third omega wondered out loud, twirling a lock of his hair, clearly deep in faux thought. “Although I’m willing to keep my mouth shut. For a price. And by price I mean a free cone.”

“What do you mean corporate?” Jeno’s voice was muffled from where his face was smushed against the counter, really amplifying his anguish. “My boss is a dude named Vernon who taught me how to make a bong out of a waffle cone once. I really don’t think he’d care about a ‘health violation’.”

“Cheer up buttercup!” The tall omega cooed and stood on his tiptoes to ruffle the alpha’s mop of dark hair affectionately. “At the end of the day you’re collecting your coin and we respect that!”

“We do?” The short one looked legitimately confused. “I mean...we do.”

The tall omega pressed his lips together at that in an act of poorly suppressed mirth and as his eyes slid from the alpha suffering inside the truck to his small friend, they briefly paused on Donghyuck, long enough to draw the attention of the other’s and soon enough he found himself with four pairs of eyes staring right at him.

Donghyuck would’ve stared right back at all of them if he didn’t possess only one pair of eyes and settled on looking directly into the tall boy’s eyes, boldly assuming he was the ringleader of this little group.

He seemed to assume correctly and the other three looked away from him back towards the taller omega, amusement evident as they gauged how this situation would be handled.

Donghyuck held up a hand, money crumpled in his fist and without breaking eye contact with the other omega, slid it across the counter towards Jeno.

The alpha hesitantly touched the money before freezing and pushing it away as if suddenly remembering a very crucial part of this exchange of goods.

“Uh, what would you like to order?”

“What would you recommend?” Donghyuck asked, eyes barely twitching as he resisted the urge to be polite and look at the alpha as they spoke.

“...um.“ Jeno looked flustered and leaned out the window at the menu painted on the side of the truck, probably skimming it for the most expensive item. Donghyuck could respect that. “I-“

“Depends on what you’re in the mood for.” The short omega interrupted, leaning against the side of the truck with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Huh, maybe Donghyuck had pegged the wrong boy as the leader. “That being said, what are you in the mood for?”

Not expecting to be confronted like that by the small omega, Donghyuck blanched and before he could reply with a witty retort, the boy beat him to it.

“If you’re thirsty I’d say go for a can of something cold but in this capitalistic society it’s upcharged like a hundred percent so it’d be like you’re getting straight _robbed_. I mean I’m not knocking you if you choose that shit, just trying to look out for you. You could get a cone of whatever but let’s be real, you can DIY that shit at home. Again, not judging but- you come to an ice cream truck for the ice cream truck experience. Get something you can’t get anywhere else.”

Donghyuck felt his lips stretch into a grin so wide it made his cheeks hurt, and briefly looked away from the proud looking omega to Jeno who looked legitimately impressed.

“Damn Renjun, why don’t you work in here instead of me?” The alpha sounded in awe. “Hey if we switch spots and cover your face with this stupid hat no one will know the difference!”

Jeno took off his visor and offered it to Renjun who gave him the stink eye.

“Tempting but I’d never kneel for your capitalist overlords.”

Jeno put his visor back on.

“That’s fair.”

“Uh.” Donghyuck said, voice slightly louder than usual to draw the group’s attention back to him. “Is a snow cone good?”

Renjun nodded stoically and with his seal of approval, Donghyuck handed his money over and peered over the counter to watch Jeno prepare his cone.

“Hey,” Donghyuck turned when he heard the small omega call out, standing with his arms open and an expectant look on his face. “Um? You’re welcome.”

His two friends giggled and armed with the knowledge that the other boy was joking, Donghyuck smiled an easy smile and held out a hand.

“Thanks Renjun.” He said sweetly and if the omega was surprised he had picked up on his name, he didn’t show it, just kept his cool. Donghyuck could respect that.

“So you’re the new kid?” The tall omega behind Renjun piped up, looking at Donghyuck with curious eyes, hands braced on his friend’s shoulders and peering over his head like he was a kid ogling a zoo animal.

Donghyuck reached up to smooth his hair down. Hey if he was gonna give these guys a show he didn’t want to look sloppy now did he?

“Yup. Just moved in.” Donghyuck gestured vaguely behind his shoulder in the general direction of his new house. “You guys live on this street too?”

They all nod and almost as if they planned it, simultaneously point in different directions, presumably pointing out their houses making Donghyuck giggle.

“I’m Donghyuck.”

“Hi Donghyuck! I’m Jaemin.” The tallest omega introduced himself, reaching out and shaking Donghyuck’s hand that had been limply hanging by his side making the boy laugh some more at the total power move that was. “You know Renjun I think and that’s-”

He reached back and affectionately pet the third omega’s cheek, pinching and stretching the skin and seemingly widening the omega’s smile as well.

“Yangyang!” The boy himself said cheerfully and waved at Donghyuck who totally would’ve waved back if Jeno hadn’t chosen that moment to appear by the counter again, brandishing a snow cone and looking immensely pleased with himself as he handed it over.

“Got the machine to work!” He announced happily and Jaemin and Yangyang politely clapped.

Donghyuck totally would’ve politely clapped too if he wasn’t too busy going to town on his newly acquired snowcone.

“Alright, it’s almost 3, I gotta drive back to the park. Meet you guys there?” Jeno asked and the other three boys let out various noises of affirmation.

“Wait, if we all have the same destination in mind, why don’t we hitch a ride for the journey?” Yangyang suggested and a brief flicker of fear went through Jeno’s dark eyes as he shook his head.

“Nope. Not again. Last time I let you guys ride in the back Jaemin almost got crushed by the slushie machine. Vernon said we can’t afford a lawsuit right now. Or...ever.”

“Lawsuit?” Jaemin repeated incredulously, looking deeply offended. “I could have DIED!”

“You were almost crushie’d by the slushie.” Yangyang pointed out and Jaemin made a face like he was trying his damndest not to laugh.

“Whatever. I’m heading out. Nice talking to you Donghyuck!” Jeno said cheerfully and then his face fell as he realized his mistake. “Uh I mean, I didn’t talk to you- I mean I wanted to! But like...you know what I mean...right?”

“Yeah.” Donghyuck had to stop himself from cooing. “See you around man.”

Jeno waved one last time and then he was off.

The four omegas watched the truck disappear before turning to face each other.

Donghyuck sucked on his snow cone.

Yangyang looked at Renjun who looked back at him before turning to look at Jaemin who looked back at him before looking above him over at Yangyang who looked back at him, clearly communicating telepathically.

“Say, new kid,” Renjun finally broke the silence. “Wanna hang out with us at the park?”

Donghyuck forced himself to not respond immediately, pursuing his lips as if he was thinking long and hard about his decision before nodding slowly, lips betraying his cool demeanour as they stretched achingly wide in a grin.

“That’d be cool.” He said as nonchalantly as possible, casting a glance backwards at his new place and wondering if he should pop in and inform his parents of his plans. Making the easy decision of not wanting to be potentially scarred for life if he just so happened to walk in on them breaking in their new bed he followed the three omegas as they headed down the sidewalk, slipping in between the gap Yangyang and Jaemin had made for him as they headed off.

 

“All I’m saying-!” Jaemin said loudly as he wrapped his fingers around the metal bar (of the abandoned jungle gym deep in the forest they had wondered in on, Donghyuck felt the need to add) and yanked himself up, swinging his upper body up so he could settle high above the ground. “Is that Donghyuck might be in the running for having the hottest dad.”

“ _In the running?_ ” Yangyang scoffed as he followed suit and perched himself on the highest bar, legs swinging leisurely once he got comfortable. “He blows the competition out of the water! Dude, your dad is hotter than hell.”

“Uh…” No matter how many, admittedly understandable, compliments he had gotten on his dad’s behalf over the years he had never quite learned how to deal with them and settled on a simple; “Okay.”

“You’re welcome!” Yangyang said cheerfully and then his face fell almost comically. “Wait you didn’t say thank you did you...nevermind.”

Donghyuck laughed a little at the omega’s dismay and plopped down on the lowest rung of the jungle gym, staring in fascination at how trees seemed to grow in between the bars, nature intertwined with the metal and the soil having swallowed a good chunk of its base.

“This place is so...wow.”

“Yeah, this used to be _the_ playground for pups except Mother Nature must have had it out for the builders or something and kinda took over. They ended up building another one and this baby’s been abandoned since.” Renjun explained, patting the structure with affection in his eyes.

“That’s where we come in.” Jeno laughed as he lifted himself up and settled down next to Jaemin, casually crossing his ankle over the omega’s and making the other boy smile sweetly at him. “We’ve transformed this place into something of a safe haven, the feds can’t bust us for loitering out here!”

“But they can bust us for-“ Yangyang dramatically produced a bag of chips from the pocket of his hoodie and waved it around with glee. “THIS!”

Jaemin pointed a finger gun at the other omega, screwing his face up with mock seriousness.

“Step away from the bag, I repeat, step away from the bag.”

Yangyang snickered and tossed the unopened bag to the other omega who ripped into it with relish.

“Hold on…” Renjun frowned, pointing to Jaemin and then Yangyang and then finally fixed his finger on Donghyuck. “How do _you two_ know what _his_ dad looks like? And how hot is he exactly, like on a scale of 1 to 10 what are we talking?”

“Yeah…how _do_ you two know?” Donghyuck wondered out loud and then turned to Renjun. “C’mon dude, you too?”

Renjun shrugged, a shameless glint in his eyes betraying his true intentions.

“I gots to know.”

“Like a month ago, Jaemin and I were just chilling on my porch when a couple drove up to check the house out. And then we decided to…check the alpha out.” Yangyang explained, having the decency to look bashful as he avoided making eye contact with Donghyuck. “And uh, for a rating hmmm...I dunno.”

“For context, I’m a 10.” Jeno said and Renjun rolled his eyes.

“You’re not a 10-“

“You’re right.” Jaemin agreed and when Jeno let out an offended gasp, he squeezed the alpha’s bare knee comfortingly. “You’re even higher~”

“An 11?”

“Mhmmm higher~”

“A 12?!?!”

“Higher~”

“Yangs push them off.” Renjun gagged and Donghyuck couldn’t help but giggle at how sickeningly sweet the two were together and their friend’s deeply troubled reaction.

“Will do!” Yangyang said cheerfully and stretched his legs as far as they could go, only succeeding in brushing Jaemin’s head with the tip of his shoe. “Damnit nevermind. Consider yourselves lucky.”

Jaemin stuck his tongue out at the other two omegas and lobbed the chip packet at Renjun’s head, the other boy managed to catch it with no chips lost in the process.

“For real though, Donghyuck, your dad is one hot motherfucker. I mean you knew that because that’s how you got here- unless you were born from artificial insemination which is cool too- but that’s besides the point. If we’re talking on a scale from 1 to 10 and let’s say Jaemin’s dad is like...a 9? Then your dad’s a 10.”

“Woah. Better than Jaehyun?” Renjun’s eyes widened and he turned to Donghyuck with a serious expression. “Hey can I come over sometime?”

“Oh my god!” Donghyuck buried his face in his hands as the others laughed. “I let my walls down with you guys and this is how you repay me? By trying to homewreck my not even moved into yet home?”

“So you’re saying we wait till you’re all settled in to make a move?” Yangyang asked innocently and Donghyuck pretended to wipe away a tear with his middle finger then present it to the other omega, making the others howl with laughter.

“With Donghyuck’s dad now in first place, he’s knocked Jaehyun down to second and Renjun’s dad down all the way to third.” Jeno said into his first, presumably pretending it was a mic and imitating his best sports announcers voice. “Thoughts?”

Jaemin leaned over to speak into Jeno’s fist/mic.

“Uh, feeling pretty relieved that my dad isn’t in first anymore if I’m being honest. Kinda feel bad for Yang’s dad because he’s not even in the top three right now but it’s whatever, he’ll live.”

Yangyang nodded along to the other omega’s words and held up his own fist/mic to speak into.

“As long as he gets a participation trophy, he’ll be a-okay.”

They all dissolved into a fit of laughter once again and Donghyuck was so busy trying to keep his balance on the jungle gym that he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice behind him go;

“What about my dad?”

“Boo.” Renjun frowned as Donghyuck clutched his chest, willing his frantic heart rate to slow down. “We come here to get away from pups. What are you doing here?”

“Renjun I’m older than you.” The voice reminded him in an amused tone, stepping out into the clearing and revealing a tall, handsome alpha with windswept dark hair and a dorky smile. Just like that, Donghyuck’s heart rate sped up again and he idly wondered if this would be what killed him. “And you guys invited me yesterday! Remember?”

“Well I was really hoping your short term memory loss would’ve kicked in…” Renjun grumbled and the alpha laughed and approached the jungle gym, sending easy smiles to everyone including Donghyuck before pulling himself up and settling on the rung right below him.

The alpha settled comfortably against the bars before straightening up almost comically fast, counting all his friends before his finger landed on Donghyuck and he gaped at the omega, clearly not comprehending his presence.

“Mark, this is Donghyuck. Donghyuck this is Mark. Be nice Markie.” Jaemin introduced them, voice funny as he tried to push down a giggle. “He just moved into the house next to...yours I think I actually!”

“I’m always nice.” Mark reassured then tipped his head back to grin at Donghyuck, offering a hand which the omega was quick to shake. “Hey neighbour!”

“Hi.” Donghyuck smiled back.

“We were just talking about Hyuck- can I call you Hyuck?” Yangyang confirmed and Donghyuck nodded at the nickname. “Hyuck’s smokin’ hot dad!”

“Okay, enough.” Donghyuck groaned and the others laughed good naturedly. “No more talking about my dad-!”

“Wait, one last dad thing?” Mark raised a hand looking sheepish and Donghyuck braced himself for more disturbing dad discussion. “You look _really_ familiar, I can’t place it and it’s driving me nuts man! Do I know your ‘rents maybe?”

Donghyuck froze, wondering if this Mark kid was secretly some freaky felon that his government agent parents had tortured information out of.

He wracked his brain trying to remember if he had ever witnessed such an event but decided something like that probably would have stuck out in his memory, he probably wouldn’t have forgotten a face as cute as Mark’s either but that was definitely besides the point.

“Maybe…” He decided to answer, hopefully nailing this sexy and mysterious new kid on the block character he was trying on. “Maybe...not.”

“Uh okay!” Mark laughed and Donghyuck sighed. Guess it wasn’t working as well as he’d hoped. “So um, hope these guys gave you a warm welcome!”

“Well we invited him over to sit on _mother_ with us and then I gave him chips so I’d say that’s a pretty warm welcome.” Yangyang decided and then seemed to realize Renjun was hogging the bag and gasped, snatching it from the smaller omega’s grasp and handing it to Donghyuck who gratefully took a handful.

“Oh god, don’t call it that.” Mark winced and Yangyang kicked his legs out in glee.

“Mother!” He repeated loudly and shook the rungs, causing the whole structure to shake and making Donghyuck internally freak out a little.

“Speaking of mothers,” Jaemin began and side eyed Donghyuck. “Is yours in the picture?”

“Sorry to disappoint but yup.” Donghyuck snickered at the omega’s dismay. “He’s a...cop too so you don’t wanna get on his bad side.”

“Fuck the police.” Renjun said under his breath and pretended to look around in surprise when Donghyuck turned to him. “What? Who said that?”

“My dad’s a cop too.” Donghyuck voiced offhandedly and immediately regretted it when he spotted the twinkle in Yangyang’s eyes.

“Dude. Fuck the police for real then, am I right?”

“That’s it, I’m leaving.” Donghyuck announced, relishing in the other’s cries, apolozing and begging him to stay. “Hmmm. Fine. Just for a little bit though. I gotta get back and help my folks for tomorrow.”

“Ah, your housewarming party right?” Jeno asked and Donghyuck nodded. “Dope. Hope you get your house real...warm for tomorrow.”

They cracked up as the alpha made a face at his blunder and the conversation shifted to Jaemin complaining about some ‘bird ass bitch’ from school which derailed as they tried to catch Donghyuck up on all the drama that was going on in their lives and by the end of it, the omega felt his brain physically hurt from having to take in so much new information in such a short period of time.

“Oh shit!” Yangyang gasped as he grabbed Mark’s arm and squinted at the watch on the alpha’s wrist, tilting his head back as if he was trying to make out the sky through the canopy of trees above. “It’s almost 6! Renjun and I got mandarin class!”

The boy frantically climbed down the structure, nearly kicking Mark in the head as he scrambled to get to the bottom. Renjun followed suit, much more languid in his movements as he hopped down and followed the other omega to the edge of the clearing, both of them turning and waving with varying enthusiasm.

“See you guys tomorrow!” Yangyang shouted, bouncing up and down excitedly as he bid them farewell.

“Bye.” Renjun echoed and they disappeared into the forest.

Donghyuck watched them go and then turned to the remaining three boys, unable to stop a dorky smile from taking over his face as he tried to figure out a way to keep his next words from coming across as corny.

“Um...thanks for letting me hang out with you guys today.” He found himself saying and focused on his sneaker clad feet so he wouldn’t have to potentially watch them cringe at his cheesiness.

“Aw, Hyuck! No problem, seriously.” Jaemin gushed affectionately and the two alpha’s let out various noises of confirmation that it was seriously no problem. “At first I was kinda worried you were gonna be lame, if I’m being honest, but you’re like totally not lame and I’m not just saying that because you have a hot dad.”

Donghyuck pretended to get choked up over that, wiping a fake tear and sighing dramatically.

“I think that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Just bein’ honest.” Jaemin grinned and rested his head on Jeno’s shoulder, placing a hand on the alpha’s thigh and _stroked_.

Donghyuck wasn’t an idiot. In fact, he usually liked to consider himself the opposite. So it was a no brainer to hop off the jungle gym and leave those two alone so they could get freaky with it in peace.

Well as peaceful as it could possibly be with Mark there too.

The alpha didn’t seem to get the hint, just kept beamin’ and chattin’ with Jeno about his work, all the while Jaemin’s hands crept farther and farther up Jeno’s leg getting dangerously close to the alpha’s danger zone.

“Uh, Mark?” Donghyuck called out and the alpha turned, grin now directed at the omega and making sweat prickle in his palms. It had been a while since he had been so unnerved by an alpha’s looks. He definitely hadn’t missed all the symptoms that came with the beginning stages of a crush.

“Yeah?”

“If you don’t mind, could you walk me back home?” Donghyuck asked, tilting his head and pursuing his lips, hoping the alpha would get the hint to join him on the journey back home and leave the two lovebirds alone. “Please?”

“Um, okay, sure!” Mark looked confused for a moment but seemed to push it back in favour of helping Donghyuck get back home, hopping off the jungle gym and waving goodbye to Jeno and Jaemin before leading the way into the forest, hovering by a stump as he waited for Donghyuck like a dog getting ready for his walk.

Not wanting to delve too far into any potential puppy play, he quickly bid farewell to the alpha and omega duo and joined Mark on their walk back.

“Can’t believe you didn’t pick up on _that_.” Donghyuck teased as he pushed a branch back, smiling gratefully when Mark held it in place for him to duck under. “It was so obvious they wanted to be alone.”

“Uh they? As in...Jeno and Jaemin?” Mark clarified and Donghyuck let out an incredulous laugh.

“Yeah...who else? It’s common courtesy to leave two lovebird’s alone.” Donghyuck pointed out as he hopped over a mossy log, wincing as twigs scraped against his bare legs, dreaming about an alternate universe where Mark had so courteously offered to carry him back home.

“Wait.” Mark froze and Donghyuck promptly slammed into the alpha’s back, wrapping his arms around the other’s middle to keep from, quite literally, falling victim to reality. “Uh. Woah. Koala much haha?”

Donghyuck immediately let go, crossed his arms over his chest and took a step back, trying to play it cool.

“Why’d you stop?”

“I’m just- that’s a little weird. I mean, it’s a lot weird. Do you...do you think that Jeno and Jaemin are dating?” Mark sounded amused with a dash of horrified. Donghyuck was confused with a dash of more confused.

“...Yes. Although you’re making me want to rethink my answer…”

“Donghyuck.” Mark was clearly trying to tread lightly and the omega resisted the urge to shake his next words out of him faster. “Jeno and Jaemin...are brothers.”

“Oh my God.” Donghyuck said immediately and covered his mouth. “What the fuck.”

“Well okay, that’s not exactly true. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t lying to mess with you. They’re not like blood brothers. They’re not even step brothers! Yet. They’re going to be. Soon. Their parents are dating. They’re gonna tie the knot sometime this year. Haha, knot. I mean- I should stop talking.”

“Wow.” Donghyuck said, feeling a flush work up his neck and creep across his cheeks, mortified at just how wrong he had been. “I just...wow.”

“Yeah.” Mark chuckled as they emerged from the forest. “Wow is right.”

“Damn.” Donghyuck breathed and looked back at the forest with worried eyes. “Uh maybe we shouldn’t have left them alone…”

Mark full on laughed at that and waved his worries off with an extremely vague; “Don’t worry, they’re just like that.”

“Uh, okay.” Donghyuck decided to laugh along as he and Mark walked side by side down the sidewalk, the cul-de-sac popping into view the moment they turned the corner. “That’s...fun.”

Mark walked him all the way to his porch, hanging back with a sort of shy smile as Donghyuck hovered by the door, unsure of how to say goodbye.

“See you tomorrow yeah?” Mark called out, one hand resting casually in his pocket and the other up in some sort of frozen wave.

“Yeah. Bye. Sorry for making you walk me home because I thought your two friends were dating when they’re actually...the opposite.” Donghyuck apologized and Mark waved him off with another laugh.

“No worries!” Mark called out. “Bye!”

 _Don’t be a stranger._ Donghyuck thought affectionately as he pushed open the unlocked door, peering through the distorted glass of the doorway to watch the alpha head next door and disappear into his own house.

Donghyuck surveyed the empty front hall with shifty eyes, wondering if he could bolt up the stairs and take refuge in his new room, when a frantic voice from the kitchen made his blood run cold.

“Donghyuck? Is that you?”

“No.” Donghyuck called out, hoping to diffuse what was probably going to be a tense ass conversation. “I’m a thief who’s come to rob you of everything you hold dear! Although I’m not a very good one now that I’ve brought attention to myself…”

“Hey thief.” Kyungsoo greeted him dryly, leaning against the doorway of the kitchen and fixing him with a deeply unimpressed look. “I’d say take my son but he’s decided to be a little punk and run away from home.”

“Aw, you hold me dear?” Donghyuck couldn’t help but tease and his mother scowled.

“Don’t be cute.” He scolded and Donghyuck skipped into the kitchen, greeting his father with the biggest smile he could muster.

“I’m incapable of not being cute.” Donghyuck pointed out and Jongin grinned back, reaching over to pat his head affectionately. “Right daddy?”

“He’s got a point.” The alpha pointed out and Donghyuck hugged his number one fan, burying his face in his father’s chest and breathed in his soothing smell. “You have fun today kiddo?”

“ _Fun?!?!”_ Kyungsoo repeated, staring incredulously at his mate embracing their troublesome offspring. “He disappeared for hours, without telling us, in a completely foreign environment might I remind you-! And all you can ask him is if he had fun?”

Jongin looked genuinely confused.

“Should I not want him to have fun?”

Donghyuck muffled his laugh into his shirt, not wanting to aggravate his mother more with his amusement.

“How about you start by asking him where he was?” Kyungsoo asked through gritted teeth and Jongin pushed his son away from him gently, holding him by the shoulders as he politely asked;

“So. Where were you?”

“In the forest.” Donghyuck said honestly and then picked up a plastic takeout menu that had been left on the counter. “Ooh, are we having pizza?”

“In the forest?” Kyungsoo repeated incredulously and Donghyuck nodded nonchalantly.

“Yup. So pizza-?”

“We already ordered.” Jongin reassured him and Donghyuck held up a hand, for a solemn fist bump with his father.

“FOREST?!?!?” Kyungsoo looked and sounded livid. Donghyuck’s dad not so subtly steered him by the shoulders so he was standing between them like some sort of human shield. “Why were you in the _forest_?”

“My new friends took me there. I met them in front of an ice cream truck out front. They all live on this street.”

“What kind of forest dwelling freaks-?” Kyungsoo began and Donghyuck felt the need to defend said forrest dwelling freaks.

“It was nice! I had fun! We just sat around and talked and...yeah.” In his defence, a lesser boy would’ve absolutely crumbled under their mother’s scrutinizing glare.

“Is that all?” The older omega didn’t sound convinced. “You just sat around...and talked? No illegal substances were provided, _at all_?”

“Only the hardest drug known to man.” Donghyuck said dryly. “Funyuns.”

Jongin snickered and then immediately got up and made his way to the doorway when Kyungsoo’s stink eye slid over to him, mumbling something about waiting for the pizza delivery guy and Donghyuck watched him go wistfully.

“Father don’t leave me!”

“Donghyuck.” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and reluctantly held out a hand, lacing his fingers with his son’s and squeezing softly. “You know what? I’m glad you had fun. Just...let me worry alright? I know you’re more than capable of staying safe but…”

Donghyuck hugged his mother tight.

“I know.” He reassured the older omega. “I mean now I don’t have to pretend to like them when they come over tomorrow. ‘Cause I actually like them, you know?”

“God I wish that was me.” Kyungsoo groaned and Donghyuck snickered at his jaded tone. “I’m gonna have to pretend to be a ditzy housewife to fit in tomorrow huh?”

“You can drown your sorrows in wine to really fit in.” Donghyuck reassured him and Kyungsoo chuckled and dropped a kiss on the top of his head.

“After dinner you’re heading straight to bed. Your uncle’s will be here first thing tomorrow to help us get ready. I’ve unpacked the airhorns and I can and I will use them to make sure you wake up tomorrow. Don’t get too comfortable.”

“I love you too mom.”  

 

“What the fuck is this?”

“Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo hissed, eyes shifting over to his son who looked enraptured by the conversation. “Language!”

“Alright. My bad Duckie. Let’s try again. What the frick is this?”

Kyungsoo nodded, looking the slightest bit less stressed.

“Thank you.” He said and then looked over from the platters he was preparing to take a peek at what had his friend so perplexed. “And that’s a portable bookshelf.”

“Gross!” Baekhyun said cheerfully and Donghyuck giggled. “That’s lame as hell. Who even reads anymore? Duckie, do you read?”

“I don’t even know how to read.” Donghyuck replied solemnly and he and Baekhyun shared a laugh as Kyungsoo sent them both some serious stink eye.

“Exactly! I’m turning this into a portable bar! You and your neighbours will thank me later~” Baekhyun sang and Donghyuck’s mom seemed to realize arguing was futile and just rolled his eyes and focused on his food. “Duckie, come help me!”

Donghyuck slipped out of his seat and followed the older omega into the wine cellar and began helping him unload bottles before rolling it outside and setting it by the refreshment table.

Just when he thought he could slip away unnoticed and hide in his room until people started arriving he found himself on tablecloth duty, fighting an uphill battle with the scratchy fabric but eventually coming out victorious, dropping the last one on the grass in front of the back porch as just as families started arriving.

“Your hair is a mess.” Sehun said bluntly, coming up behind Donghyuck from where he had been setting up the refreshments. Too used to his uncle’s unusual behaviour, the young omega didn’t even flinch. “Here.”

He placed his baseball hat on Donghyuck’s head, tucking a couple stray curls under the cap before resuming rearranging the refreshments.

Pleased that he had been blessed by the touch of his most fashionable uncle, Donghyuck squared his shoulders back and put on his most dazzling smile for his new neighbours.

 

“Baby Sungie!” Jaemin sang and rubbed his face against the pup’s. “Babyyyyyyyyyy Sungieeeeeeeee-”

“I’ve never seen a baby hate someone more.” Renjun said and Donghyuck cracked up as he took in the traumatized look on Jisung’s chubby face. Everytime Jaemin tried to kiss him, he freaked out and crawled all the way to the edge of the blanket only to return for more reluctant cuddles, clearly suffering from some sort of stockholm syndrome. Poor kid.

“That’s not true!” Jaemin frowned and if Jisung could form coherent sentences, Donghyuck was sure he’d agree with Renjun. Unfortunately for the pup, all he could do was spit up and babble as Jaemin hugged him.

Donghyuck reached over and poked at the baby’s chubby legs affectionately, cooing at the looks he was serving in a little pair of overalls.

The moment Mark and his family had walked in, the alpha holding his little brother tight, Donghyuck knew he was whipped. There was just something about seeing hot alpha’s with kids that just made them hotter. Plus, it didn’t help that Jisung was definitely in the running for the cutest pup Donghyuck had ever seen. He would’ve had first place in the bag, though, if it wasn’t for-

“Renjun can you hold Chenle for a bit?”

Donghyuck felt like the state of his cardiovascular system was in serious danger, heart swelling as he watched Renjun’s mom approach the edge of their makeshift picnic, a squirming toddler in his hands.

“Fine.” Renjun sighed and took Chenle and settled him in his lap, tucking his baby brother against his chest protectively.

“Thank you.” His mother, a tall omega named Sicheng, said quietly and smiled shyly at Donghyuck before heading back over to where he had been sitting with his husband.

“How did someone like your mom-” Jaemin pointed at the demure omega and then pointed to Chenle who had discovered fellow baby Jisung and had started squealing to alert the other pup of his presence. “Make something like _that_.”

“Have you seen my dad during the world cup?” Renjun laughed as let go of Chenle, the pup now free to crawl over and terrorize Jisung to his little heart’s content. “Got a little too invested in Japan’s matches and ended up losing his voice. Ah, that was before Chenle was born...I think that was the last time I’d ever felt truly peaceful.”

Donghyuck laughed along with the other omega’s and allowed his eyes to roam over his packed backyard, glad everyone either seemed to be having fun or had the common courtesy to pretend like they were.

He tried not to be too obvious as he got up and made his way around the grill where Mark was helping Sehun and another older alpha, presumably his dad, with the barbecue. He hovered awkwardly but when the smoke and lack of attention got too much he hmphed and walked over to where his mom was sitting.

Weirdly enough, Kyungsoo seemed to be getting along swimmingly with the other omega’s, chatting happily with the attractive omega that had came with Mark’s family that Donghyuck was embarrassed to admit he had mistaken for the alpha’s older brother when in reality he was Mark’s youthful mom.

“Does anyone need anything?” Donghyuck asked politely as he approached the table and smiled at his mom and then Mark’s mom and then his gaze landed on an omega with a gummy grin sitting across from them, sitting with his arm around Jeno. Piecing together the fact that Donghyuck had seen him arrive with an alpha that was the spitting image of Jaemin, he deduced that this was Jeno’s mom. Still feeling uncomfortable over yesterday’s revelation, he sent them both awkward smiles.

Everyone but Kyungsoo shook their heads, probably too polite to demand something from a near stranger. His mother handed him his glass, demanding a refill with a small smile but narrowed eyes as if he was grateful Donghyuck had offered but would definitely start throwing hands if he took too long.

“Your son is such a sweetheart.” Donghyuck heard Jeno’s mom gush the moment he turned around and schooled his face into a stoic expression, trying his damndest not to smirk at that. He _was_ a sweetheart!

Noticing his mom’s favourite wine wasn’t on the table, he frowned and turned to head inside, hoping he could find it in the fridge or he was up next for a world class ass whoopin’.

He walked past his dad chatting with Yangyang’s dad, pausing to make sure they didn’t need anything from the kitchen, asking out of obligation and praying they didn’t actually need something from him.

“No thanks son.” Donghyuck’s dad sounded distracted, reaching over and to pet his cheek clumsily. “Kun? Oh by the way! Kun this is my son. Son, this is Kun. Maybe you know _his_ son?”

“Yeah we hung out yesterday.” Donghyuck smiled up at the handsome older alpha. Huh, a shame his new friends were clearly blind and didn’t place him in the top three hottest dads on the block. “He’s cool. Thanks for...making him.”

Kun chuckled.

“Uh, you’re welcome?”

Donghyuck finger gunned his way out of that awkward conversation and made his way back into the house and headed towards the kitchen, where he was pleasantly surprised to find Yangyang shovelling cheesecake into his mouth on the island counters and an unknown omega pouring a mixture of clear liquids into a wine glass by the sink.

“Um.” Donghyuck said.

“Oh, hi Hyuck!” Yangyang greeted with his mouth full, chewing noisily and swallowing quickly. “Nice place!”

“Thanks.” Donghyuck couldn’t help but grin at the dorky omega.

“This is Ten.” Yangyang introduced and the short omega looked up from the amalgamation of alcohol he was mixing. “He’s uh...a friend of my dad’s.”

“Hey. Donghyuck was it?”

Donghyuck nodded.

“Cool party.” Ten raised his glass and Donghyuck followed suit, holding up the empty wine glass and making the older omega smile. “I’m heading outside Yangs. You coming?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Yangyang crammed the last bit of crust into his mouth and dropped his plastic plate into the garbage, following Ten out through the backdoor and leaving Donghyuck to his own devices.

He turned to raid the fridge for his mom’s refill when the backdoor swung open, bouncing off the wall and startling Donghyuck into dropping the glass. Luckily for him, it was one of those weird colourful silicone ones he had definitely mistaken for a sex toy at first, and it just bounced off the tiles.

He bent down to retrieve it and when he straightened back up, he found himself face to face with Sicheng holding a sleepy looking Chenle. Well taking their height difference into consideration it was more face to chest but Donghyuck was courteous enough to keep his gaze above the other omega’s neckline.

“Uh, if this isn’t a bother,” Sicheng began quietly, deep voice not matching his modelesque features at all. “Is there a room where I can feed my son?”

“Oh! Of course! You can head up the stairs and turn...left? Wait no, right...wait- I’m sorry we just moved in I’m still kinda crappy with the rooms.” Donghyuck apologized and gestured for the omega to follow him as he made his way up the stairs, opening the last door on the left and sighing in relief when it turned out to be a guest bedroom. “You can use this room!”

“Thank you.” Sicheng smiled gratefully at him and headed inside, Donghyuck waving goodbye at Chenle who did grabby hands at him tiredly before the door swung shut.

Donghyuck made his way down the stairs once more, resisting the urge to groan when he noticed one of the alpha’s from outside clearly waiting for him in the hallway. He liked being helpful, sure. But he just wanted to get the wine back to his mom and get his ass back on that picnic blanket outside and get back to sunbathing and staring at a certain cutie.

It was Jaemin’s dad and he looked antsy, fidgeting in place, eyes lighting up when he noticed Donghyuck on the stairs.

“Hey can I use an upstairs bathroom?” He asked and Donghyuck shrugged, not even phased by the weirdly worded question.

“Sure. It’s down the hall on your left- I mean right...shit! Want me to show you-?”

“It’s alright I’ll figure it out.” The alpha brushed his offer off, heading up the stairs and disappearing down the hallway.

Donghyuck watched him go with a frown before deciding it wasn’t worth his time worrying over and moving to join everyone outside.

 

Donghyuck couldn’t sleep. It had been hours since the backyard had cleared out and his body ached from having set up, entertain and then clean up the whole event yet he just couldn’t doze off.

He squinted at the digital clock on his bedside table that told him it was 2:01 am. Nothing good happened after 2 am but you could never go wrong with a late night snack.

Donghyuck sighed as he rolled out of bed and slid on his slippers, shuffling downstairs to snack on some leftovers. He took his slice of cheesecake with him to the living room and sat by the windowsill and watched the quiet street as he ate.

Moving around so much, he had met his fair share of neighbours and had never found himself so enamoured by a group like he did in this cul-de-sac. And not just because of his quasi crush on Mark.

The house across the street seemed to be struggling with sleep too, judging by the light in their kitchen and Donghyuck squinted to try and make out who it was but giving up when his sleep crusted eyes began to burn. Definitely a sign to try and go back to sleep.

When he woke again, it was early morning. Light was streaming through the gaps in his blinds and his clock read 6;47 am. The omega sat up in a tangle of blankets, blinking blearily as he tried to figure out what felt so wrong when he realized; the house was dead silent.

He always woke up to the sound of something. The sound of breakfast being made, the radio playing, the morning news on, there was always something. Hearing nothing was deeply unsettling and he swallowed down the rising panic in his throat and grabbed his robe from behind his door as he raced down the stairs and out through the front door.

The first thing he saw was police cars, fuelling his panic even more, throat seizing up and making it harder and harder to breathe until he spotted his parents, both of them looking pretty crazy in their patterned robes, arguing with a police officer who seemed to be blocking them from entering the sectioned off house across the street.

He took a deep gulp of air, forcing himself to calm down and stepped out onto the asphalt only for a hand to grab him by the shoulder and gently pull him back.

“What the-?”

“They’re not letting anyone near the house.” Mark explained, voice low and scratchy, clearly having just been woken up. It was really hot but now was really not the time. “Your parents told mine to keep you with us while they talk to the cops, come on Donghyuck-”

“What happened?” Donghyuck demanded to know, watching his parents seemingly win the argument with the police officer after Sehun rushed up to them, brandishing a badge that got all three of them ushered into the house immediately. A pit of dread formed in his stomach as he thought of his parents in any sort of danger, wanting nothing more than to rush in after them.

“Well, they don’t know the full story yet but…” Mark trailed off and Donghyuck turned to look at the alpha, lips trembling as he tried to force the next words out.

“Mark. What happened?” Donghyuck repeated in an eerily calm tone, a news van racing down their street, followed by another and then another cop car. Families were starting to emerge from their houses to see what was going on. It seemed like everyone on their street was outside trying to survey the situation. Everyone except-

Oh.

Donghyuck got it.

He _was_ observant after all.

“Someone stabbed Jaehyun. They found him in critical condition in his backyard. He’s in the hospital right now but h-he lost a lot of blood. They don’t know if he’s going to make it.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT THIS CHAPTER IS SO LONG hehe think of it as a gift for making u guys wait so long :( AS ALWAYS IF U LIKED WHAT U READ PLS PLS PLS TELL ME comments make me so happy and definitely make me update faster :DDD

As shitty as public bathrooms were, it brought Donghyuck a strange sort of comfort that they were shitty everywhere. Nothing felt more normal than a school’s crappy bathroom situation. Even the nicest of schools suffered spectacularly in that specific area and this one was no exception. As soon as he walked into the omega bathrooms he was greeted with cracked mirrors, broken soap dispensers and graffiti galore. 

 _‘Man is it good to be back.’_ Donghyuck took a deep breath and then immediately regretted it, gagging as he pushed into the nearest stall and locked the door behind him. He balanced his newly acquired uniform on the toilet paper dispenser and stripped out of his street clothes with a scowl, elbows sore from slamming into the walls of the stall. 

He was in the middle of fumbling with his tie when the door swung open and slammed into the wall, the loud chatter of two omegas bursting into the room and bouncing off of the walls. Donghyuck tensed up, tie forgotten in favour of eavesdropping on the duo.

“Did you hear-?”

“About the guy-?”

“Who was like-”

“Totally stabbed?!?!”

Donghyuck grimaced at their cacophony of catty chatting and decided to forgo tying his tie in favour of pushing open the stall door, effectively shutting the two boys up. 

He exited the bathroom with a _bang_ and mindlessly made his way through the hallways, not sure where he was headed but absolutely sure he didn’t need any help. 

As he walked through the hall, he couldn’t help but notice that the news of Jaehyun’s unfortunate condition seemed to be all that anyone was talking about, if the brief stretches of their conversations Donghyuck caught indicated anything. 

“Jaemin’s dad…………”

“........fucking stabbed………..”

“................in his own home.”

Donghyuck felt his mouth twist in a scowl the more he heard, resisting the urge to start stomping as he turned a corner into a blissfully empty dead end and just stood there, not caring in the slightest how ominous he probably looked. 

He hadn’t been able to fall asleep after yesterday’s...debacle. His parents and uncles had been in and out of the house all day, watching him in shifts as they presumably investigated the stabbing and leaving Donghyuck alone to think.

Which was an extremely dangerous combination that led him to have some extremely dangerous thoughts he was hesitant to share with anyone. He’d have scribbled them into his journal (diary? What exactly was the difference? Diaires seemed to be associated with teenage omegas and their vapid thoughts which didn’t exactly describe the investigation of an attempted murder) if it hadn’t been for his nosey uncle Baekhyun. 

Tormented by his thoughts, Donghyuck barely registered the sound of the bell and cursed under his breath as he spun around, now faced with a rapidly clearing hallway, admitting defeat and approaching the nearest alpha for help, hoping his cute face and short skirt would lead to him being fed the correct information. 

First period saw the omega sitting smack dab in the middle of his math classroom next to a kind omega named Felix who had nearly startled Donghyuck out of his chair when he opened his cute little mouth and out came a deep voice coupled with an Australian accent. 

It kinda made him regret not trying on a new accent in his new neighbourhood. If he was to move again he’d definitely pretend to be Aussie. It would probably go over way better than the time he had pretended to British…

Second period had him sitting in English next to Yangyang after the other omega had so kindly kicked his usual seat mate to the back in favour of his new friend. They barely had time to exchange pleasantries before the teacher jumped right into their lesson on short stories, ending it by assigning an assignment for the students to write their own. 

 _Murder mystery?_ Donghyuck wrote in his notebook as he brainstormed, doodling a little knife and puddle of blood under his words, erasing it with a grimace when he noticed Yangyang trying to peek at his paper. Maybe that was a little too on the nose…

After sneaking a glance at Donghyuck’s schedule, Yangyang very cleverly deduced that they had gym together third period and very helpfully guided his new friend to the gymnasium where they ran into Renjun in the changing room. 

It was there where the elephant in the room was finally addressed. 

“Jaemin’s not here today.” Renjun began, not beating around the bush for a bit as he began to unbutton his blouse. “Neither is Jeno. Both of them are with Jeno’s mom in the hospital. Apparently Jaemin’s dad is in surgery.” 

“Aw shit. Yangyang looked upset. “I feel so bad…”

“Yeah.” Donghyuck echoed as he wrestled with his tie. “Did anyone say what happened, like-?” 

“I dunno.” Yangyang sighed. “My dad wouldn’t say anything.” 

“Mine either. I’m guessing it’s still classified information or whatever.” Renjun wondered out loud before turning to face Donghyuck with narrowed eyes. “In that case, do you know anything? ‘Cause of your ‘rents?” 

“No.” Donghyuck couldn’t fight the frown off of his face at the thought of his parents keeping such interesting information from him. “I probably know less than you guys. My parents are real adamant about keeping this shit from me to protect me or whatever.”

“Well, they probably know what’s best.” Yangyang decided and Renjun snickered when he caught Donghyuck rolling his eyes behind the other omega’s back. “I mean who knows...maybe whoever attacked Jaehyun’s gonna come back to spill more blood...I can take a lot of things but I don’t think I can take a knife!” 

The three of them eventually changed into their gym clothes, the conversation eventually shifting to Donghyuck’s first day at their new school (“Do you like it?” “I mean...it’s big.” “Contrary to popular belief, just because something is big doesn’t mean it’s good!” “Yangyang shut up.”) and emerged into the gymnasium. 

“So there are a couple classes going on at once.” Renjun explained, glancing at a nearby group of alphas warming up with disdain. “There’s us, then there’s another omega class and then there’s-“ 

Donghyuck was aware that Renjun was saying words, his mouth was moving and he was gesturing wildly with his hands, but he couldn’t register anything the other omega was saying because a tall, dark (well in the hairy, pasty otherwise) and handsome alpha had emerged from where he had been previously hidden behind his friend’s and set off in a glorious jog across the gym, toned legs and arms all on display thanks to that blessed gym uniform. 

“-and usually we don’t interact with them-“ Renjun noticed the other omega was totally brain dead as he drooled over Mark who had ran his fingers through his hair and holy forehead, fringes should be illegal if you had a forehead that fucking fine. “Donghyuck! Are you even listening to me right now?!?!” 

“Hnnnnnngh.”

“Woah, cleanup in aisle Hyuck.” Yangyang laughed and threw an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Did your last school not have alphas or something?”

Donghyuck snapped out of his Mark induced stupor with a wistful sigh. 

“Either my standards have been exponentially lowered or...I’ve never seen an alpha like _that._ ” 

Renjun looked grossed out. 

“I’d go with that first one. Mark is _okay._ That’s all I’ll give him.” 

“Is he seeing anyone?” Donghyuck needed to know. 

Mark stretched his arms above his head, revealing a stretch of toned skin and a trail of hair leading down to his party parts.

Donghyuck needed to know _now._

“Nah.” Yangyang answered with a grin, not even bothering to hide his amusement. “Go get ‘em tiger.” 

Before Donghyuck could pounce, a whistle was blown and all the alphas began making their way to the back exit of the gym. 

“Where are they going?” Donghyuck demanded to know, watching Mark join them in dismay. “Can I go with them?”

“Probably gonna spend the period on the track outside.” Renjun explained. “And no you can’t join them.” 

“I’m devastated.” Donghyuck announced before his eyes caught Mark’s and the alpha gave him a shy little wave before he disappeared out through the door. “Update. I am no longer devastated.” 

Fueled by the brief attention Mark had gifted him, the omega made his way over to the middle of the gym and began to help the others set out their yoga mats. 

  


“You gonna buy anything from the cafeteria?” Yangyang asked as they made their way down the hall, vaguely sticky and warm and out of breath from gym. 

(And _not_ in a fun way, yoga was no joke, if Donghyuck’s aching limbs were anything to go by.)

“Nah, my mom packed me a lunch.”

“Cute!” The other omega cooed and held up a fistful of crumpled up bills. “Well my dad doesn’t love me so I gotta go buy my shit. Haha, I’m kidding. He does love me. And I love him. But I love processed foods more. Meet you guys outside!”

Renjun and Donghyuck followed the throng of students towards the main entrance and squeezed their way past them and out through the doors, veering off to the side and plopping down in the shade of a large tree. Many students seemed to be taking advantage of the nice weather and Donghyuck was pleased to recognize a couple of his new classmates. He waved to Felix who was sprawled out on the nearby grass with his friends.

If Renjun noticed them, it didn’t show, the small omega immersed in the act of retrieving his lunch. He had his tongue sticking out, clearly focused on the task at hand and Donghyuck resisted the urge to coo at the other boy, instead deciding to pull his own lunch out and start munching. 

It had been a whole ordeal, getting his lunch packed in the first place. When they had first moved in, Donghyuck had marvelled at how big the kitchen was, easily the nicest out of any of the places they had lived before. However, it was considerably less big and nice when it was the crack of dawn and he was stuffed in that son of a bitch with five more people, also in a hurry. It had nearly been a disaster when he had accidentally grabbed the thermos full of Sehun’s spiked coffee. Nevertheless, everyone made it out of that kitchen in one piece with time to spare, equipped with their correct containers and whatnot, Donghyuck’s mom even finding some time to leave a sticky note on his tupperware. 

_Have a good first day of school. If only they gave you a punch card for those kinds of things. You’d have won a free uniform by now. I love you Donghyuck._

_I love you too Mom_ . Donghyuck thought affectionately. _Even though you won’t fill me in on this attempted assault case because you think it’s too dangerous and scarring to expose me to which is totally valid but I’m a nosey brat who just wants to know even more now-_

“My meatloaf is hot. Like, weirdly hot.” 

Donghyuck was startled out of his train of thought as Yangyang sat down next to him, legs spreading carelessly as he did so. Donghyuck eyed the other omega’s bare legs enviously and tugged his skirt down self consciously. He was no prude but he sure wasn’t ready to show the world his day of the week panties, and not just because they were almost always the wrong day. But could you blame him? Keeping track of those things was a hassle and sometimes, even if it was a Monday, you just felt like rocking a pair of turquoise Tuesday’s instead.

“And you’re complaining?” Renjun seemed lost as he watched his friend poke at his loaf of meat with sadness in his eyes. “Would you prefer it cold?”

“Gross no!” Yangyang laughed and put a bite in his mouth, face screwing up before he managed to swallow and then immediately went back for another bite. “Eh. Not bad. I’ve swallowed worse.”

Donghyuck cracked up and Renjun gagged.

The rest of lunch passed by rather uneventfully. The three of them chatted aimlessly, clearly trying to avoid any mentions of Jaemin, and by association Jeno, or his father which Donghyuck was admittedly disappointed by but could respect nonetheless. He would just have to get his information elsewhere…

He also learned, unfortunately enough, that Mark usually ate lunch with them but had skipped on today in favour of basketball practice. Donghyuck figured now was as good as a time as ever to start paying attention to his uncles when they talked about sports balls. Alphas liked cute omegas that pretended to have an interest in their interests to impress them right?

Towards the end of it, Renjun pulled out a book that was bigger than his head and cracked it open, burying his nose in between the pages and tuning the world out. Yangyang was using his backpack as a pillow, the upper half of his body curled up on the grass in the shade and the other half sticking out in the sun. Donghyuck decided to live a little and joined the other omega in rolling up his skirt and letting the sun hit his legs, the warm feeling mixed with the soft tickles from the grass was borderline orgasmic.

“Hey what time does lunch-“ Donghyuck froze mid question. He had turned to address Yangyang who now had a vape pen sticking out of his mouth. “Um...are you in the middle of something?” 

“Nah you’re good.” Yangyang said around the stick, eyeing the area around them, probably on the lookout for any teachers that would take away his toke. “Lunch ends in like ten. Do you mind if I-?” 

Donghyuck decided it was far too early in their budding friendship to be honest so he decided to go with a smooth lie instead. 

“Nah, go ahead.” 

Renjun peeked over the top of his book with a deeply unimpressed look.

“Do you want to get suspended?”

Yangyang rolled his eyes.

“Do you wanna mind your business?” He shot back, mimicking Renjun’s dry delivery and Donghyuck bit back a laugh.

“Do you want to die of lung cancer?” 

“Jokes on you, global warming’s gonna take us all out before that happens!” Yangyang chirped, sounding morbidly cheerful, before taking a hit and blowing a circle of smoke at Renjun who blocked it with his book.

“Since when have you cared about global warming?”

“Ever since I learned I can use it to shut you up!”

“Well it’s not working because I’m still talking aren’t I-?”

“Do you two do this a lot?” Donghyuck interrupted and the two omegas shared a fond look and then Yangyang ruined the moment by blowing another ring of smoke at Renjun who swatted it away with a badly hidden smile.

“Believe it or not, we’re actually worse.” Renjun admitted.

“Well don’t feel like you gotta censor yourself around me.” Donghyuck reassured them and they just laughed and began to gather their things. 

“You’ve got physics next right?” Renjun asked and Donghyuck nodded. “That’s third floor. I think you have it with...Jaemin.”

A weird sort of silence followed that and Donghyuck watched the two boys carefully as they mulled over the absence of their friend. Yangyang’s face was screwed up tight and Renjun’s was completely void of expression, both sets of eyes snapping back into focus when the bell rang.

“You guys good…?” Donghyuck asked and they both made varying noises of affirmation, Yangyang linking their arms and Renjun leading the way back towards the building. 

“Don’t worry ‘bout us Hyuck!” Yangyang chirped. “Worry ‘bout yourself! I’m kidding. Don’t worry! Yeah I should’ve gone with that…”

The second half of the day passed by much faster than the first, fortunately. Before he knew it, Donghyuck was fleeing his last period classroom, maneuvering through the growing crowds, heading towards the back of the school and emerged into the student parking lot. 

He pulled his phone out from where he had slipped it into the waistband of his skirt because pockets weren’t a thing apparently and tapped into his messages.

_Dad_

_Ur uncles flight got delayed so we’re still @ the airport im so sorry duckie! Can u get someone to help u take the bus home? :(_

Donghyuck frowned as he took in the text. The sun was sweltering and he was exhausted. His parents forcing him to take the bus home, which would undoubtedly be crammed with noisy, sweaty bodies, could definitely be considered child abuse. What was CPS’ number again?

Before he could google it, he felt an arm swing and tighten around his shoulders, Yangyang appearing out of nowhere to greet him with a side squeeze. 

“Hyuck!” The taller boy shouted, thankfully tall enough that Donghyuck’s ears were barely spared from that assault. “What’s got you down in the dumps dude?”

“It’s just...my parents can’t pick me up.” Donghyuck sighed, casting a dramatic glance towards the asphalt. “And now I gotta take...the bus.”

Yangyang shuddered.

“Gross! Lemme drive you home! Think of it as a thanks for letting me hit a spliff in front of you. That was dope as hell man!”

“Hit a spliff-?” _What the fuck had been in that pen?_ “Uh anyways. Are you serious? You really don’t have to…”

“But I must.” Yangyang insisted and Donghyuck couldn’t help but smile at the other omega’s suddenly serious tone. “We just gotta wait for Renjun and-“

“Speak of the devil.” A voice behind them said and Donghyuck nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to find a smirking Renjun, arms crossed and hip cocked clearly ready to go. Had he just been standing there the whole time waiting for his name? Huh. Donghyuck could respect that. 

“Dude you just called yourself the devil.” Yangyang laughed.

Renjun shrugged. 

“Guess I’m reclaiming it.” The small boy said and then turned to Donghyuck. “You coming too?” 

Donghyuck nodded. His heart, previously occupying the space in his throat, was thankfully back to thumping in his chest. 

“Cool. I call reverse shotgun.” 

“Um-“

“Yay! You get to sit up front with me!” Yangyang squealed and from the way Renjun was eyeing him with pity, Donghyuck wondered if he was a deadman. 

Well, anything was better than taking the bus home.

“Shall we?” Yangyang held up a keychain decorated with so many trinkets and keys it could probably do some heavy damage if swung at someone. 

“We shall-“ 

“Qian! Nakamoto!” 

Renjun and Yangyang turned at the shout of what was presumably their last names. Despite not having his called, Donghyuck turned too because he didn’t want to feel left out. 

“Oh. New kid whose name I don’t know. Hi!” It was one of Felix’s friends. A tall, dark haired omega with a pretty face. “I’m Hyunjin.”

“I’m Donghyuck.” Said Donghyuck. “Do Donghyuck.”

“It’s nice to meet you Donghyuck. Do you guys have a minute?” Hyunjin asked kindly. Aw! He seemed sweet. 

“Yeah.” Renjun said except the way he said it made it sound like he wanted to say “nah” instead and Yangyang groaned under his breath, eyes uncharacteristically narrowed.

Damn, nevermind.

Donghyuck, now sensing a threat, sized the other boy up. Way too tall to take in a fight. Damn it. Now he had to be civilized. 

“Can you pass on a message to Jaemin for me?” Hyunjin asked and Renjun frowned.

“Depends on the message.” 

“Well first of all, tell him I hope his dad gets better soon.” Hyunjin clasped his hands together and tilted his head. Something about his demeanor, coupled with a pout, just screamed pseudo sympathy. “And second of all...I hate to be the bad guy but...three consecutive missed practices and he’s off the cheer squad and he’s already missed out on the past two weeks-”

“Dude.” Yangyang interrupted, irritation radiating off of him in waves. “His dad was just fucking stabbed. Cut him some slack, won’t you?”

Hyunjin winced.

“Of course! I’m not trying to be rude it’s just...rules are rules.” He smiled, albeit looking a little guilty, and Renjun scowled.

“Surely you can bend them just this once?” 

Hyunjin made a big deal of sighing and folding his arms across his chest, shooting all three of them a pointed look which had Donghyuck wondering why the hell he was suddenly involved?

“I mean yeah, yeah. I’ll talk to coach Kim. Don’t worry about it. Just tell Jaemin he better not miss next week’s. Or he’ll be off the team and-”

“You’ll become captain.” Renjun finished with an eye roll. “God forbid.”

“Whatever.” Hyunjin frowned, clearly over trying to be civil. “I’d be doing him a favour if I replaced him. He’d have more time to hook up with his brother after all.”

With that, he disappeared back into the school, leaving Yangyang to yell at a building instead of a bitch. 

“THEY’RE NOT EVEN RELATED-!”

“Just drop it Yangs.” Renjun sighed and turned to a shell shocked Donghyuck. Did Hyunjin just confirm his theory about Jeno and Jaemin that Mark had so awkwardly shot down? Hold on- “You ready to go?”

“Uh...yeah.”

And with that, they were off.

Pro: Yangyang’s car was red and shiny and finished the twenty minute ride home in ten. 

Con: Fast was an understatement. With the windows down, the wind had given Donghyuck’s face some serious botox. 

Pro: The heavy trap music blasting out of Yangyang’s sound system coupled with them flying down the asphalt at a breakneck speed left no room to talk about whatever the hell Hyunjin had been on back at school. 

Con: Donghyuck didn’t want to fucking die. Especially before he got to mack on Mark!

Just when they had pulled up to the curb in front of Renjun’s house and Donghyuck thought he was safe, Yangyang slammed on the brakes and Donghyuck’s life flashed before his eyes. Holy shit it was so sad. The moment he stepped out of this car he swore he would change his life for the better. 

“Oh. My. God. Renjun is that-?” 

“Ugh. It is.”

Donghyuck blearily wondered what they were talking about. He managed to lift his head, careful not to hurl all over the leather interior of the car, owing it to the cows who were sacrificed to create this devilish contraption. 

Parked in the Nakamoto’s double driveway, right next to a sleek looking hatchback, was a bright red motorcycle. Considering the fact that it didn’t have a little sidecar attached to the side for baby Chenle, Donghyuck deduced that this didn’t belong to either of Renjun’s parents. 

“Who-?” Donghyuck managed to croak out and Yangyang turned to him with a smirk, cutting the engine with a flourish. 

“I’ve got two words for you Hyuck. Well two names. Wait I don’t know his last name. Alright I’m starting over. I’ve got one name for you Hyuck. _Yukhei._ ”

Donghyuck stared at him. Or tried to. His vision was too blurry.

“I don’t know what that means.”

“Man, whatever! Wanna go inside and see a real hot piece of ass?”

“Sure.” Donghyuck said blearily and stumbled out of the car. His house was literally less than a minute away yet he knew for sure he’d hurl if he spent even a second more in the car. Plus, who was he to turn down a hot piece of ass?

“Hot piece of ass…” Renjun scoffed as he climbed out of the car. “I’m telling Hendery you said that.”

“Go ahead, Hendery doesn’t care!” Yangyang laughed as they made it to the door. “Yukhei’s my hall pass.”

“Hendery’s my boyfriend.” Yangyang clarified and then whipped out his phone, proudly showing off his lockscreen, showcasing the selfie of an attractive alpha. 

“Cute!” Donghyuck cooed as Renjun unlocked the door and the three of them stepped inside. The air conditioning washed over their heated skin but it was a momentary bliss as they seemed to be heading back outside, to the backyard. Disgusting. “Does he go to our school?”

“Um. He goes to _a_ school.” Yangyang bit his lip. “Okay that sounds like he doesn’t exist. He’s in college.”

“Oh!” Donghyuck said and then immediately felt bad so he tried to make it up with a; “Cool!”

“Yeah…” Yangyang tugged on his fringe, clearly nervous with sharing this information with his new friend. So Donghyuck elbowed his side playfully to try and calm him down. 

“You know what they say about older alphas…”

“I do!” Yangyang nodded enthusiastically. “And it’s all true!”

“You two are disgusting.” Renjun sighed and the other two omega’s giggled as they exited into the backyard and holy yard space, was that a pool?!

“And here you see a wild poolboy in his natural habitat.” Yangyang announced in a low, hushed voice making Donghyuck snicker. Renjun shot him a dirty look but the taller boy continued. “Preying on the exotic MILF.”

“Yangyang-”

“Renjun? Is that you?”

Renjun grit his teeth, warning cut off by his mother calling for him and turned, waving awkwardly towards the older omega lounging in the lounge chair, clad in nothing but a white two piece swimsuit. Chenle was fast asleep on his chest and Donghyuck kind of envied the pup. 

‘ _Woah, Renjun’s mom has got it going on!’_ Donghyuck thought and then immediately realized it he said it out loud judging by the incredulous look Yangyang shot him. 

“I mean, yeah. He’s all I want and I’ve waited for so long. But how can you look at him when you could be looking at…” Yangyang trailed off, sending the mushiest heart eyes to the alpha sitting on the lounge chair next to Sicheng’s. “ _Him~”_

Had everyone in this town been genetically engineered in a test tube to ensure perfection? Fuck Mark, fuck Jaemin’s dad (er...too soon?) and fuck anybody else in the running for hottest alpha! Yukhei the poolboy blew the rest of the competition out of the water. Donghyuck wanted to blow-

“Hey! Renjun! Yangyang! New friend of Renjun and Yangyang’s!” Yukhei greeted them cheerfully, distracting Donghyuck from his nasty thoughts. The alpha’s tanned and toned arms were open as if going in for a hug and the omega’s heart rate sped up at the thought of being pressed against those pecs. “What’s up?”

Oh, it was just a welcoming gesture. Damn it. 

“Hi Yukhei! This is Donghyuck.” Yangyang introduced him with a little push forward. “He just moved into the house across the street. Donghyuck this is Yukhei. He’s the Nakamoto’s poolboy.”

“And a very good one might I add. If your family ever needs one I _highly_ recommend Yukhei.” Sicheng announced, eyes twinkling as he spoke. He seemed completely different from the reserved and awkward omega Donghyuck had been introduced to at the barbecue. “Hello Yangyang. Hello...Donghyuck was it? Are you two staying over?”

“I guess so? And uh, we don’t have a pool so-”

“Oh I don’t just clean pools.” Yukhei reassured him with an easy smile. Donghyuck tried not to swoon. “I do loads of things! I paint walls, I clean gutters, I-”

“Do you paint guts?” Yangyang muttered and Dongyuck choked. Hold on- were his eyes deceiving him or did Sicheng just smirk?

“Uh…” Yukhei kept smiling, clearly confused. “Well I should get back to work! It was really nice talking to you Sich- Mister Nakamoto.”

And with that. he headed towards the pool house in the back, coincidentally where Renjun had disappeared into. 

“You two, please, feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge.” Sicheng said sweetly and lifted the sleeping toddler off of his chest. “Renjun! Come and put Chenle down for his nap inside!”

Yangyang and Donghyuck bid the older omega farewell and headed back inside after Renjun gestured for them to go without him, presumably wanting to stay and talk to his mom for a bit. 

They headed back to the kitchen, gushing about how sexy Yukhei was the whole way inside. Much to Donghyuck’s disappointment, Yangyang dished that Yukhei already had a boyfriend but it was apparently on the rocks. Huh. If the Mark thing didn’t end up working out, it was good to know he had a backup man.

“I’m gonna go get something to drink. You want something?” Yangyang asked and Donghyuck shook his head. He had been raised by parents that had drilled politeness into his head and nothing was more polite than saying NO when offered _anything_. 

He found himself wandering towards the living room as Yangyang raided the fridge. As he admired the modern living space, he felt his foot collide with a book sticking out from under the loveseat.

Donghyuck admittedly didn’t know much about decor but hiding books under sofas didn’t seem particularly aesthetic.

He reached down to pick it up, curiosity getting the better of him, and examined the cover. It was titled ‘Parenting for Dummies’ except the first two letters of dummies were crossed out so it spelled out ‘mommies’ instead.

Graphic design was their passion, Donghyuck supposed. 

He thumbed his way through the pages until he landed on one with a bookmark sticking out of it, scanning it with wide eyes.

_What To Expect When You’re Done Expecting; A Mommy's Guide To Postpartum Depression_

“Do you ever feel like you’re not good enough?” Donghyuck read aloud in a hushed voice. “Do you ever just want to drop everything and drive away? Do you ever feel like you don’t want to be a mommy anymore?”

With wide eyes, Donghyuck snapped the book shut. Okay, he was definitely intruding. He let the book fall from his hands and nudged it back under the sofa, pushing the contents of the book out of his mind and heading to the bottom of the staircase where Yangyang was waiting with an energy drink. 

“Do you really need that?” Donghyuck teased and the other omega cracked up. 

“I guess not...but it’s already in my hand so…” Yangyang popped the tab and took a swig. “Oops!”

They headed upstairs, pausing on the landing where a series of framed pictures caught Donghyuck’s eye.

“Woah...this is so cool.” He whispered, gazing at the collage of the Nakamoto family. The closer he looked, the more details emerged, the pictures seemingly arranged in a timeline from childhood pictures of Renjun’s parents all the way up to Chenle’s recent baby pictures. 

“Yeah, Mark’s dad helped set this up for their tenth anniversary and they’ve been adding to it since.” Yangyang explained, sounding a little wistful as he reached out to touch a family portrait, catching himself and freezing before his fingers brushed the frame. “We’ve got one too! Way less pictures though…”

Donghyuck watched the omega for a moment, longing evident in his eyes before they brightened once more and he pointed to a picture of Sicheng as a teenager dressed in a leotard and stretching in a ballet studio. 

“Doesn’t Renjun look just like his mom? Minus the height though.” Yangyang laughed and Donghyuck hummed, admiring the pretty picture before gesturing to another picture of a younger looking Yuta who was posed endearingly awkwardly. 

“I dunno. I think he looks more like his dad.” Donghyuck observed. “Speaking of, I see a huge problem.”

“Problem?!?!”

Donghyuck nodded and pointed to a portrait of Yuta, presumably on his wedding day, hair slicked back and decked out in a suit. 

“This neighbourhood definitely has a hot dad epidemic.” He said seriously and Yangyang cracked up, pulling him up the rest of the stairs and guided him down the hall.

As they walked, Yangyang explained how close he was to the Nakamoto’s. His dad and Renjun’s mom were close and Yangyang spent a lot of his free time with them while his dad worked long hours, often gone for days at a time on business trips.

“What does your dad do?” Donghyuck questioned as they pushed open the door to Renjun’s door and headed inside. The omega’s room was something out of an IKEA showroom, much like the rest of the house. A giant white canopy bed with a stuffed Moomin sat in the middle of the room, a desk in one corner and a bookcase in the other. A cork board brought some colour into the nearly all white room, covered in sketches. 

He approached the board to admire the drawings up close as Yangyang tossed his bag on the fluffy rug and flopped onto the bed. 

“My dad’s a pilot.” Yangyang said, voice muffled with his face pressed into the Moomin’s belly. He sat up and hugged the toy to his chest, stroking its head affectionately. “He tries to spend as much time as he can with me at home but I understand why he can’t. No hard feelings really.”

Donghyuck clicked his tongue in sympathy, eyeing the various drawings Renjun had presumably drawn. Lots of cartoons of his friends, some Moomin’s, a couple night sky’s.

He couldn’t help but smile affectionately at a drawing of a little chibi Mark eating a watermelon bigger than his head. 

“I think he’s gonna quit flying.” Yangyang sighed and Donghyuck turned around, giving the other omega his full attention as he spoke. “He doesn’t go on these long ass trips anymore. Actually he hasn’t been on one in a while...the last time he’s left the country was probably around...a year or two ago. And that wasn’t a business trip that was a vacation he took with my uncle Ten and Renjun’s mom.”

Ten...that had been the older omega in the kitchen with Yangyang at their house warming hadn’t it? He had distinctly remembered him going home with Mark’s family though...huh, maybe Yangyang had uncle issues. He decided not to bring that up and just hummed to make sure the omega knew he was listening.

“I can’t lie. It’s nice not being alone all the time.” Yangyang admitted and hugged the Moomin tight to his chest. “Sneaking out to go and visit your secret boyfriend is way less fun when there’s no one to sneak around.” 

Donghyuck laughed and then caught himself, raising an eyebrow when he realized what exactly the other omega had said.

“Alone…? What about your mom?”

“Not in the picture.” Yangyang said and then immediately backtracked, looking worried. “He’s not dead! I mean...I don’t know actually. He left after I was born. We haven’t heard from him since. So don’t feel bad about asking!” 

Donghyuck didn’t feel bad. 

He felt terrible. 

“Yangyang I’m-“

“Don’t apologize! It’s okay!” Yangyang reassured him. “It’s really hard to be bummed about someone you’ve never met.”

A stretch of silence followed that sombering statement. Yangyang kept his eyes on his knees, poking at the bruises that littered his skin. Donghyuck kept his eyes on him, watching for any indication he was going to continue speaking. 

“I like to think I’ll meet him one day.” Yangyang said quietly and lifted his eyes to meet Donghyuck’s in an uncharacteristically shy gesture. “Is that dumb?” 

“Not at all.” Donghyuck reassured the other omega. “And I’ve heard a lot of dumb shit in my life, trust me.” 

Yangyang laughed at that.

“You’re easy to talk to.” He admitted and Donghyuck felt his insides grow warm at the compliment.

“It helps that you’re easy to listen to.”

They smiled at each other and then Renjun ruined the moment by bursting into the room, a bowl of fruit tucked under his arm.

“Why did my parents spend all that money on that fancy ass crib if Chenle has an actual vendetta against it-” Renjun complained and then paused, eyeing the two omegas with suspicion. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Nah, the moment has passed.” Yangyang chirped, smoothly sliding back into his usual self with a sly wink at Donghyuck. 

He tried winking back but probably just looked like he was having a seizure. 

“If you say so…” Renjun hummed and joined them on the bed, stealing his Moomin toy back from Yangyang and then offering the bowl of cut up fruit. “Fruit?”

Yangyang wrinkled his nose.

“Not a fan.”

Donghyuck passed as well, too distracted by the glow in the dark stars sticking to the omega’s ceiling, seemingly arranged in an accurate series of constellations.

“Super dope room, man.” He said and Renjun smiled at him.

“Thanks. I guess it’s kinda kiddy but my dad designed it for me when I was a pup. I’d feel like a dick if I rearranged it so I’m kinda stuck with it.”

“There are worse things to be stuck with.” Yangyang said wisely. “Like a knot-”

“Yangyang!”

“Oh my God.” Donghyuck laughed as Renjun threw a throw pillow at the other omega. “Hey, can I ask you guys something?”

“Sure.” Yangyang said, voice muffled as Renjun was trying to suffocate him with a pillow. “What’s up Hyuck?”

“Uh.” Donghyuck hesitated, unsure as to how to go about with phrasing his next words. “So like...Jeno and Jaemin-?”

“It’s complicated.” Yangyang said at the same time as Renjun who sat up and went; “It’s none of our business.”

A pause and then;

“It’s complicated and none of our business.” Yangyang summed up and Donghyuck raised his eyebrows at that vague and confusing answer. 

“...Okay.” Donghyuck said and then raised his hands to make sure they understood that he was dropping the subject. “Okay...okay...oh my God.”

“You good dude?” Renjun asked as Donghyuck fumbled for his phone, cursing under his breath as he turned it on and stared at the ten (10!) missed calls from his mom. 

Oh and two texts from his dad.

_Dad_

theres a donut shop here it smells rlly good do you want me to get you a donut theyre as big as your head 

_Dad_

nvm your mom says airport food is a scam :(

“Fuck!” Donghyuck whined and scrambled to get up. Sure, ten (10!) missed calls from his mom struck fear in his heart like nothing else but missing out on donuts? Now that was just unnecessarily cruel. 

“You don’t sound so good…”

Donghyuck shoved the phone in Renjun’s face and Yangyang peeked over his shoulder to peer at the screen and then simultaneously wincing as they surveyed the damage.

“You’re a dead man.” Yangyang sighed and shook his head. “It was nice knowing you. It really was! But alas, all good things must come to an end.”

“I’m so screwed! I forgot to call them and now they probably think I’m dead in a ditch somewhere!” Donghyuck slung his bag over his shoulder and moved to head out. “Okay that’s not true. They definitely put a tracker in my phone. They know I’m safe they probably just wanna mess with me.”

“And is it working?” Renjun asked.

“YES!” Donghyuck wailed and Yangyang laughed. “Ugh, anyways. I gotta go. Thanks for having me! See you guys tomorrow?”

A chorus of goodbyes lead him out the door, down the hall and bounding down the stairs where he narrowly avoided colliding with Sicheng standing in the foyer, door open as he watched Yukhei tinker with his bike.

 “Uh, excuse me-”

Sicheng turned and smiled kindly at him, stepping out of the house and onto the front porch so Donghyuck could squeeze through the door. He found himself lingering next to the older omega despite his hurry to get home, watching him for a moment before quietly speaking up.

“You’ve got a beautiful house.” He said and Sicheng’s smile grew at that, staring down at his feet bashfully. 

“Thank you Donghyuck. I’m glad you seem to be getting along so well with Renjun and the others.”

Donghyuck smiled at the other omega, taking a moment to take in his features as Sicheng’s eyes slid from his face to surveying the street.

The older omega had an unreadable expression on his pretty face, shoulders squared back and emphasizing his statuesque nature. His eyes were locked on the house next door and it didn’t take a genius to guess that that was probably Jaemin and Jeno’s.

The house itself was huge and beautiful like all the others on the block but Sicheng wasn’t exactly looking at the house, per se. He seemed to be looking through it. 

“Are you worried about what happened with Jaemin’s dad?” He couldn’t help but ask and Sicheng startled out of his trance and looked at Donghyuck with worry.

“What?”

“You know,” Donghyuck gestured vaguely. “I’d be scared too if my neighbour was attacked in his own home. I’d like, think I was next.”

Sicheng stared at him for what felt like an eternity before his face softened and his lips parted as he breathed out slowly.

“Hey.” He said and Donghyuck stared up at him. “Everything’s going to be alright. Don’t you worry.”

Huh. Oddly reassuring. Donghyuck couldn’t help but feel like his third eye was wide open after hearing that. 

The motorcycle revved up and ripped them from their magical moment. 

Donghyuck was all for safety but, he couldn’t lie, he felt mad disappointed that Yukhei’s handsome mug was covered by a motorcycle helmet. 

The alpha waved goodbye before speeding off.

“I hate to see you leave but I love watching you go.” He murmured, apparently louder than he had anticipated judging by Sicheng’s sudden laugh. 

“Ah.” The omega looked embarrassed and covered his mouth, self consciously tightening his robe around his middle and taking a step back inside. “My husband should be home soon. I should get started on dinner. Are you sure you don’t want to stay?”

“I’d love to but I really gotta head home.” Donghyuck gritted his teeth, bracing himself for Kyungsoo’s wrath. 

Hell hath no fury like his mother...ignored.

Sicheng sent him one last smile before heading back inside and locking the door behind him. 

Donghyuck sighed and adjusted the straps of his backpack, walking down the street as slowly as he could. As he climbed up the stairs to his front porch, groaning under his breath the whole time, he couldn’t help but pause on the welcome mat and stare at the house next door, absentmindedly wondering what was going on in Mark’s world.

  
  


“I feel like a cow.” Taeyong said gloomily. 

“...You can’t just say something like that and not elaborate.” 

“Locked away and abused, used only to provide milk from my teats to feed an ungrateful consumer.” Taeyong glared at Jisung and the baby, seemingly sensing his mother’s temper, and sticking his little tongue out, making the older omega melt. “Aw I can’t stay mad at you Sungie~”

“Please don’t talk about your teats at the table.” Mark grimaced, raising his textbook in a vain attempt to block out this cringey conversation and Taeyong scowled at him although it was incredibly ineffective considering he was hooked up to a breast pump. 

“Don’t be rude. These teats fed you, well into toddlerhood-”

“Oh my God.” Mark groaned and faceplanted into his homework as Ten cackled at him. He had tried being a good student and getting his work done before dinner and had plopped himself down at the dinner table. However, just when he had gotten comfortable, his mom and Ten and Jisung had decided to crash his party and now Mark had to do his homework to the soundtrack of Taeyong’s breast pump because he had forgotten his headphones upstairs. 

Every teenage alpha’s dream.

“Maybe my mommy group was right when they said I was gonna want to go vegan once I started pumping.” Taeyong mused out loud. 

“If you go vegan does that mean we have to go vegan by default?” Mark whined. “Because I’m calling CPS if you make us do that.”

Jisung whined as well, clearly unhappy with the idea of losing all animal based products. Ten bounced him on his leg to try and quiet him down. 

“My mommy group-” Taeyong began again and Ten made a farting noise into his palm to shut him up.

“Enough about your damn mommy group!” He complained, although there was clearly no animosity behind his words. “Jisung, you hate listening to your mom talk about that don’t you? Yes you do! Yes you do~”

“Don’t use my son against me.” Taeyong sighed and reached out to tickle the pup’s toes affectionately. 

Thankfully the topic shifted from teats and Mark found himself distracted by his work again, tuning out Taeyong and Ten as they talked. 

It was nice to have Ten staying with them again. Lately it seemed like the time between his visits was growing more and more which was strange considering that the omega was ‘employed’ as a freelance sex therapist that traveled the world seeking out potential clients and helping them out with...hands on techniques. 

Mark admittedly had a weird relationship with his uncle who wasn’t actually his uncle. 

Ten had been his mom and dad’s close friend in college and had been a key player in Mark’s conception considering he had been the one to set Johnny and Taeyong up in the first place. After Taeyong had given birth, Ten stuck around for about a year to help take care of him and his new pup while Johnny was busy with work. When Mark was a toddler he began to give the family some space but was still around enough to make preschool Mark include him in all the family portraits he drew and proudly tell anyone who had listened that; “I have two mommies!”

However, around middle school was when Ten really started disappearing for months at a time and by the time Jisung was born, they seemed to only see the omega a handful of times a year.

And fuck if Mark didn’t miss him like crazy when he was gone. (And not just because middle school Mark had had the worlds weirdest crush on Ten.) He was just such a breath of fresh air, like the cool older omega brother Mark never had that gifted him with advice and crazy stories and trinkets and souvenirs from all over the world whenever he came to visit. 

It had been a pleasant surprise when Ten had dropped by last week to stay over indefinitely. If he was in town he’d usually spend a couple of nights at their place before heading over to stay with the Nakamoto’s or the Qian’s but this time the omega seemed reluctant to leave.

Despite his selfish happiness for having Ten all to himself, he couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong.

Mark pushed that thought to the back of his head and tuned back into his mom and Ten’s conversation. Whatever they were talking about seemed to be irritating Jisung, the baby squirming in his uncle’s arms as Ten’s voice grew louder and louder.

“-what do you mean you gave him Kun’s number?” He demanded to know and Taeyong eyed Mark and then Jisung warily before shushing his friend.

“Ten why do you care?” Taeyong asked, sounding exasperated with his friend. “You dated Kun in college! That was like...a whole Mark ago!”

Mark didn’t know if he liked being used as a measurement of time.

“Well yeah, but…” The other omega trailed off and then scowled as if he had just realized he had no counterpoint to that. “I can’t believe out of all the crazies in your mommy group you had to set him up with the craziest one!”

“Jiyong isn’t crazy. He saw I was Facebook friends with Kun and asked me if I could set them up. So I did!” Taeyong explained. “I just felt bad for him...that guy in his pack was just arrested for-”

He side eyed Mark and then cleared his throat.

“Being a very bad boy.” Taeyong said quietly and Mark rolled his eyes at his mom’s censoring. “He deserved a nice night out with a nice alpha!”

“And?” Ten raised an eyebrow. “How’d it go?”

“Well…” Taeyong trailed off. “Uh...it didn’t...not go badly?”

Ten cracked up at that and even Taeyong smiled ruefully.

“You should ask Kun for his side of the story himself.” Taeyong added as he reclined in his seat and let his eyes flutter shut. “I’m sure he’d love to tell you.”

“I dunno.” Ten frowned, looking down and focusing on Jisung gnawing on the string of his hoodie instead. “Kun and I are-”

“Ooh, what’s with the weird mood?” 

Whatever tense atmosphere had been building up in the kitchen thankfully seemed to melt the moment Johnny walked in. He seemed to be taking a quick break from working, headphones still around his neck and glasses pushed to the top of his head as he scanned the pantry. 

“It’s nothing.” Taeyong sighed and scratched the back of his neck, sending Ten a lopsided smile which the other omega returned and then blew him a dramatic kiss making Taeyong giggle.

Mark couldn’t help but be thankful that he didn’t have to navigate the complicated world of omega/omega friendships. One minute they were at each other’s throats and the next they were ready to kill for each other. Why couldn’t all omegas be as simple to understand as the ones in porn? Those boys loved each other unconditionally!

“If you say so.” Johnny said cheerfully and approached the dining table, ducking down to give Taeyong a kiss. “You look like a cow.”

“That’s what I said!” Taeyong cried out and did his best to wrap his arms around his husband and return the kiss with the breast pump still attached to him. 

“The cutest cow in the world!” Johnny reassured and Mark and Ten simultaneously gagged.

“Damn, your dirty talk really goes down the drain once you tie the knot huh?” Ten teased and Johnny ruffled his hair playfully, squatting down to greet Jisung with a series of loud, wet kisses making his pup squeal.

“Need any help Mark?” Johnny asked, eyeing his homework spread warily. 

“Uh yeah actually-”

“Is it math?”

“...Yeah?”

“You’re on your own kid.” Johnny said solemnly and Mark just laughed tiredly and shut his books. Guess that was tomorrow Mark’s problem.

“Are you gonna get started on dinner soon babe?” Johnny asked and Taeyong craned his neck to peer at the clock.

“Huh, yeah I probably should.”

“I mean, no rush but, Doyoung and the kids are gonna be here soon so-”

Taeyong froze, mid stomach scratch and turned to his husband.

“I’m sorry- who and the what now?”

Mark looked from his mom to his dad kind of like he was surveying a tennis match except Taeyong looked ready to climb over the net and beat Johnny over the head with his imaginary racket.

“Uh didn’t I tell you earlier?” Johnny was starting to sweat, eyes flitting from a twitching Taeyong to the doorway as if he was ready to flee at any moment. “I invited Doyoung and the kids to have dinner with us when I called him this morning…”

Taeyong’s nostrils flared.

Johnny visibly swallowed.

“Yongie are you okay?” Johnny asked in a small voice.

“If I was a lesser person I’d squirt milk on you.” Taeyong grumbled.

Ten was laughing so hard no noise was coming ou, Jisung bouncing on his lap from the impact.

Mark gagged and immediately regretted bringing any attention to himself whatsoever when Taeyong whipped his head towards him.

“Go clean your room.”

“But they’re coming over for dinner!” Mark tried to protest. “Why do I need to clean my room?”

“Don’t talk back to me.” Taeyong scowled. “Go clean your room. And come here.”

Mark blanched. He took back whatever he had previously thought about his breast pumping mother not being intimidating enough. 

Taeyong having his teats milked was still _terrifying_. 

But alas, who was he to deny such orders? He shuffled around the table and reluctantly leaned forward when Taeyong crooked a finger, bracing himself for the ear tugging of a lifetime and was surprised when the omega, instead, went;

“Give me a kiss.”

“Um.”

“Give your mother a kiss!” Ten cooed. “Give him a kiss Marky~”

“But-”

“I’m being milked like a cow and have less than an hour to make a meal for seven fucking people. I think I deserve a kiss from my little shit of a son.” Taeyong demanded and Mark blushed and pressed his lips to his mother’s temple in a quick smooch. 

“There.” He said quietly.

“Thank you! Now go upstairs and clean your room and, while you’re at it, go shave that sorry excuse for a mustache you’ve got going on.”

“MOM!”

  


Mark, now mustache free, had just finished emptying an air freshener canister in his room, desperate to get rid of the weird teenage alpha must that seemed to cling to the walls no matter how much he tried airing it out, when the door creaked open.

“Uh, hey.” Jeno said, voice low as he peeked inside. “Can we come in?”

“Yeah!” Mark tossed the Febreeze in the general direction of the trash and watched it clatter to the ground with a frown and then moved to open the door the rest of the way.

Jeno walked in with Jaemin behind him and the two sat down on Mark’s bed. 

Mark sat down in his desk chair and all three of them sort of just...looked at each other. 

Jeno has clearly been crying. His face was puffy, eyes swollen and the whites were tinged with red. His leg was bouncing like a madman. 

Jaemin reached out and placed his hand on the alpha’s thigh and the bouncing stopped immediately. 

Jaemin didn’t move his hand. 

 _Hold on._ Mark thought as he stared at the two of them. _Had Donghyuck been...onto something?_

“Um…” He began and scratched the back of his neck. “Are you guys like...okay?”

Jaemin gave him a look.

“Dude.” He said, looking incredulous. “Did you really just-? Try putting yourself in our shoes and asking that question again.”

 _Our shoes?_ Mark wondered. _Like two pairs? I only have one pair of feet I can’t wear two pairs of shoes at once unless you mean one shoe on each foot-_

“Can I use your bathtub?” Jaemin stood up abruptly, already heading towards Mark’s adjoined bathroom. 

“Sure, go ahead.” Mark said and the omega walked in and locked the door behind him. “Wait- did he just say bathtub?”

Jeno shrugged tiredly.

“He’s been acting weird.” He mumbled and Mark couldn’t help but feel like acting weird was justified considering Jaemin’s dad had just been fucking stabbed. 

“...Damn.” 

“Yeah, I know.”

There was another stretch of silence before Mark fished around in his desk drawers before triumphantly emerging with two video game controllers. 

“Hey man, do you wanna-?”

“Yes please.” Jeno’s eyes lit up, tension seemingly disappearing from his shoulders as he reached out to take a controller, clearly elated with the idea of being distracted, even momentarily. 

“Can you start that shit up?” Mark asked, gesturing to his TV set up in the corner of his room. “I’m gonna go and check on Jaemin.”

Jeno nodded and busied himself with the remote and Mark approached his bathroom door and knocked twice on the wood.

“Jaemin?” He called out. “Can I come in?”

No response.

“Jaemin?”

Nothing.

“Either you’re gonna have to unlock the door or I’m gonna have to slide under the door and I’m really skinny so-”

He could hear a laugh through the door and smiled to himself when he heard the click of the lock and pushed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Jaemin hadn’t lied. He _was_ using the bathtub, just sitting pretty in it and staring contemplatively at Mark’s toilet.

“Hey Jaem, you good?”

Jaemin sighed.

“I thought we just went over this Mark.” Jaemin said but he was kind of smiling so the alpha knew he was feigning annoyance. “I am absolutely, totally, not at all good right now.”

Mark hummed and sat down on the edge of the tub.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Jaemin rested his head on Mark’s leg and the alpha instinctively moved to stroke his hair in an attempt to comfort the omega.

“What’s there to talk about?” Jaemin’s voice was quiet, sounding funny with the acoustics of the bathroom. “My dad being fucking stabbed during a home invasion? Me fucking finding his bleeding out body? Or how about me being incapable of fucking crying over any of it because I’m probably fucked in the head?”

“Jaemin…” Mark whispered, stomach turning at his friend’s words. “That’s so...fucked. I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah.” Jaemin said and closed his eyes. “It’s so fucking fucked.”

There was a stretch of silence and then;

“Home invasion?” Mark wondered aloud. 

“That’s what you focus on?” Jaemin snorted and then held up a hand to stop the alpha from apologizing. “Nah it’s okay. You’re curious, I get it.”

The omega yawned and rubbed his eyes, smacking his lips together sleepily before speaking again.

“It was like, the world’s shittiest break in too.” Jaemin laughed dryly. “They didn’t even take anything. Like, what the fuck?”

“That is weird.” Mark agreed and Jaemin sighed. 

“I mean yeah.” Jaemin murmured and nuzzled his cheek against Mark’s leg making the alpha smile.

“I just…” The omega trailed off and bit his lip, looking torn. “I just wish I could cry...get it out of my system. I feel like if I keep these feelings in any longer I’ll explode but...nothing’s coming.”

“Do you want me to make you cry?” Mark asked and Jaemin snorted and slapped his leg. 

“You have such a way with omegas.” The younger boy giggled and Mark laughed along with him. He gestured for Jaemin to scoot up in the tub and slid in the space between Jaemin and the wall, wrapping his arms around the omega’s middle as they got comfortable.

“You making a move on me right now Mark?” Jaemin teased and Mark snickered.

“You wish.” He murmured and rested his head on his friend’s shoulder, hoping their close proximity would calm him down. He could practically smell how manic Jaemin must have been feeling in that moment.

“I do wish actually.” Jaemin said and Mark made a startled noise in the back of his throat. “Calm down knothead. I just mean...it’s nice that someone has my back.” 

Then he giggled and pushed back into Mark’s front.

“Like literally.”  

They went quiet for a moment. 

“Maybe it’s good that I haven’t cried yet.” Jaemin whispered. “Doyoung and Jeno have cried enough…”

“Do you think you’re in shock?” Mark asked quietly and Jaemin pursued his lips.

“Honestly? Probably. That’s what one of the police officers who questioned me said. ‘Cause I found the body.”

Jaemin went quiet and Mark held his breath, waiting to see if he would continue.

“I woke up to these noises and when I went downstairs to check it out, my dad was just lying in a pile of his b-blood with a knife in him…” Jaemin recalled, voice trembling as he spoke. “I remember feeling weirdly calm...like I was having an out of body experience as I went back upstairs to wake Doyoung up and brought him back to the kitchen. He started freaking out and crying while I called 911. I gave them our information because Doyoung’s hands were shaking so much he couldn’t hold the phone and then I sat with him and my dad until the ambulance came.”

Jaemin took a deep breath.

“I’m just glad Jeno didn’t have to see that.” Jaemin admitted. “It would’ve broken him. Just seeing my dad out of surgery was enough to crush him. The doctors said they had no choice but to induce a coma because he lost so much blood…seeing him like that was the scariest thing in the world.”

“Jaemin-“

“Ugh.” The omega laughed and swatted in the general direction of Mark’s face. “Okay, quit that. I’ve had enough sympathetic bullshit to last a lifetime. My life is a shit show. I get it. Can we move on?”

“Woah.” Mark mumbled and Jaemin giggled.

“I know. I am _not_ handling this well am I?” The omega laughed.

Before Mark could answer (and honestly how could you answer something like that?) the door to the bathroom opened and Jeno walked in.

“What the-“ Jeno began and Mark and Jaemin immediately scrambled to get up and out of the bathtub and away from each other.

“We weren’t doing anything!” Jaemin reassured the other alpha right as Mark went; “It’s not what it looks like!”

In that moment he must have forgotten about his sock clad feet which slid almost comically against the sleek bottom of the bathtub and he grabbed onto his shower curtain to keep from busting his head open on his toilet.

Except he somehow managed to tear the shower curtain from the pole and definitely would have died if it wasn’t for Jaemin and Jeno grabbing him and yanking him upright.

Mark wasn’t sure why exactly, but there was just something hilarious about near death experiences that had the three of them staring at each other before they exploded with laughter, squeezing their way out of the bathroom and heading downstairs.

  
  


Slipping out of the living room after dinner was easy enough. Taeyong, clearly still gunning for the title of best host in the neighbourhood, had made everyone root beer floats (hold the root for the adults) and had handed them out while Ten had everyone in tears as he recalled one of his favourite stories; the time Johnny and Taeyong had had their separate bachelor parties in different rooms at the same venue and the alpha strippers had somehow ended up at Johnny’s party with the omega strippers at Taeyong’s.

Mark had already had the story memorized by heart and wasn’t too bummed about missing out on it, deciding to head outside for some fresh air instead. 

He emerged onto the front porch, leaning on the railing and looked up at the night sky. 

Wasn’t he supposed to see like, stars or something? 

He couldn’t help but feel disappointment as he stared at the vast expanse of dark sky.

“Mark?”

Every drop of disappointment disappeared as he turned to smile at the source of the voice.

“Donghyuck? What are you doing out here?”

The omega was in his pyjamas and an oversized hoodie and, despite the dim porch light, he was smiling a megawatt smile. 

Mark inwardly cringed. When had he gotten so corny?

“Just needed to get out of the house.” The omega admitted. “It’s game night and I think they were about to flip a table. I didn’t wanna get caught in the crossfire.”

Mark laughed and folded his arms across his chest self consciously when he noticed Donghyuck giving him a onceover. 

“You escaping from familial conflict too?” The other boy asked and Mark made a face. 

“Kinda? We were having dinner with Jeno, his mom and Jaemin and I just…” Mark trailed off and stared at his slipper clad feet, wondering how to phrase his next words.

“Don’t know how to be around victims of a tragedy?” Donghyuck finished for him and Mark sputtered in shock. 

“I m-mean-!”

“It’s okay!” Donghyuck reassured him. “I totally understand.”

“...you do?”

“Absolutely.” Donghyuck nodded. “Sometimes my parents get back from...duty and they’re all quiet and sad and...and I don’t like being around them because I can’t recognize them.”

“Donghyuck-”

“But eventually they go back to normal and everything is okay again.” The omega reassured him and Mark couldn’t help but smile at that.

“I guess…” Mark said in a small voice. “That just sounds really hard to believe right now.”

“I’ve been thinking of the- what’s his name again? Jaehyun? Yeah that was it! I’ve been thinking of the Jaehyun case lately.”

“Really?”

“Of course! A stabbing in a suburban neighbourhood is pretty damn suspicious!” Donghyuck said, side eyeing said house with suspicion. 

“...It is?” Mark didn’t think that was true. “I mean I guess it is strange that Jaemin said there was a break in but nothing was taken-”

“What?” Donghyuck gasped, eyes wide and mouth open as he took in Mark’s words. “That _is_ strange!”

“Woah there, calm down detective Donghyuck.” Mark let out a laugh and Donghyuck just grinned. 

“Detective Donghyuck...I fucking love that!” He announced. “Well _Mister Mark_ , I’m heading back inside. If you ever wanna join detective Donghyuck to help him solve the Jaehyun case, you know where to find him.”

Donghyuck disappeared back into his house with a wave, leaving Mark on the porch alone to think;

 _‘Huh...detective Donghyuck and Mister Mark...kinda has a nice ring to it."_  



End file.
